• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
• /
• v.28 no.4
• /
• pp.319-323
• /
• 2013

The objective of this study was to investigate the microbial contamination levels of ginseng and ginseng products distributed in markets. A total of 81 ginseng and ginseng products samples (fresh ginseng 37, white ginseng 15, red ginseng 15, red ginseng beverage 14) were tested to analyze sanitary indicator bacteria (total aerobic bacteria, coliforms and Escherichia coli), major foodborne pathogens, and fungi. The contamination levels of total aerobic bacteria and coliforms were in the range of 3.19 to 7.02 log CFU/g for fresh ginseng, 0.25 to 7.31 log CFU/g for white ginseng, 0 to 2.89 log CFU/g for red ginseng and 0 to 1.70 log CFU/mL for red ginseng beverage. In case of major foodborne pathogens, B. cereus was detected at levels of 0.50 to 2.41 log CFU/g in samples except red ginseng beverage. Fungi was detected at levels of 2.41 log CFU/g in fresh ginseng, the contamination levels of the other ginseng products samples were lower than 1 log CFU/g or mL. These results indicate that the ginseng and ginseng products were comparatively safe with respect to microbiological hazard.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
• /
• v.28 no.5
• /
• pp.562-566
• /
• 2008

This study describes cross-contamination events that occur in animal food processing. We analyzed the number of Salmonella spp. contamination transferred from pork meat to workers' hands (wearing polyethylene gloves; PG, cotton gloves; CG, and bare hands), cutting boards and knives, and vice versa. Transfer rate of CG 38.80% was higher than that of PG 3.11% and bare hands 1.35%. In particular, when wearing CG, the transfer rate from the CG to bare hands with CG was 0.07%. Also, the range of transfer rates from the contaminated pork meat to cutting board and knife was 0.20-1.99%. In contrast, the transfer rates from the worker's hands (with PG/CG and bare hands) to cutting board, knife, and pork meat ranged from 0.0015-0.21%. There was a lower transfer rate from workers' hands than from pork meat. These findings indicate that the use of PG compared with CG could effectively reduce or prevent the cross-contamination and provide important information concerning the consecutive transfer of Salmonella spp. during food processing.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
• /
• v.30 no.3
• /
• pp.99-105
• /
• 2005

A model for evaluating radioactive contamination in the urban environment, named METRO-K, was developed as a basic step for accident consequence analysis in case of an accidental release. The three kind of radionuclides $(^{137}Cs,\;^{106}Ru,\;^{131}I)$ and the different chemical forms of iodine (particulate, organic and elemental forms) are considered in the model. The radioactive concentrations are evaluated for the five types of surface (roof, paved road, wall, lawn/soil, tree) as a function of time. Using the model, the contaminative impacts of the surfaces were intensively investigated with respect to with and without precipitation during the measurement periods of radionuclides in air. In addition, a practical application study was conducted using $^{137}Cs$ concentration in air and precipitation measured in an European country at the Chernobyl accident. As a result precipitation was an influential factor in surface contamination. The degree of contamination was strongly dependent on the types of radionuclide and surface. Precipitation was more influential in contamination of $^{137}Cs$ than that of $^{131}I$ (elemental form).

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
• /
• v.46 no.2
• /
• pp.152-156
• /
• 2010

Disposable contact lenses, which are one type of soft contact lenses, provide convenience in use, but also cause various ocular infectious diseases. Microorganisms that cause eye diseases include Acanthamoeba, bacteria, Fungi, and so on. It is impossible to prevent microorganism contamination completely due to the use of hands as wearing contact lenses. The contamination by various microorganisms leads to infectious keratitis, but it is not well known for the exact microorganisms that affect the disease. For this reason, to identify the microorganisms, two groups that are commonly used for disinfection of lenses were divided: normal saline solution and multiple purpose solution. Using these solutions the degree of microorganism contamination was observed according to the days of 1, 3, 5, 10, and 15. Twenty students by two groups from Ophthalmic Optics department at D college in Daegu Metropolitan city participated in the experiment after their ocular health conditions were checked. During they wore one-day disposable lenses for 1, 3, 5, 10, and 15 days, bacteria were cultured in media. The results, which were Gram stained by selecting the cultured colonies, show as followings: Gram positive cocci 33%, Gram-negative cocci 2%, Gram positive bacilli 34%, and the Gram negative bacilli 31%, respectively. As for the identification of potential pathogens, VITEK system and API kit methods were used. Keratitis caused by bacteria known as Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa were detected as a result of wearing contact lenses. This study examined the distribution of bacteria as wearing one-day disposable contact lenses and pathogenic bacteria according to the duration of wearing them. In conclusion, the importance of hygiene when using contact lenses is suggested.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
• /
• v.31 no.3
• /
• pp.141-148
• /
• 2006

Surveys of radioactive contamination were performed for imported foodstuffs in 2003. The following samples among imported foodstuffs were selected from markets and Korea Food and Drug Administration(KFDA); the imported samples from country associated with the Chernobyl nuclear accident, the samples produced around the nuclear power plants or nuclear tests, the foodstuffs reported as radioacitive contamination materials in foreign country. After pretreatments such as drying and homogenization, samples were analyzed. The $^{137}Cs$ radionuclide was only measured among the regulation radionuclides($^{137}Cs,\;^{134}Cs,\;^{131}I$) of food code. All foodstuffs except Inonotus Obliquus(Chaga mushooms) are less than 17.0 Bq/kg or below the minimum detectable activity(MDA). The activity concentrations of Chaga mushrooms from Russia ranged up to 131.25 Bq/ltg which is almost 35 % of the maximum permitted level of food code. The fraction of imported foodstuffs having meaningful radioactivity is small, however, the radioactive contamination survey of imported foodstuffs is still needed.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
• /
• v.24 no.4
• /
• pp.47-52
• /
• 2009

This study has been to examine the occupational exposure levels of Fluorouracil (5-FU) in a hospital and to investigate the most effective cleaning reagent for control. Fluorouracil is one of the cytotoxic drugs which are therapeutic agents used to treat cancer. The health practitioners working in the cytotoxic work room and oncology ward areas are exposed to adverse health risks like cytogenetic and DNA damage from cytotoxic drugs exposure by frequent skin contact from contaminated surfaces. Four kinds of cleaning reagents has been examined to degrade the 5-FU. It was found that 5-FU was only degraded soon after the reaction in 0.5%(w/v) NaClO solution. Therefore, 0.5%(w/v) NaClO solution has been chosen to decompose any residues on the contamination surfaces. A substantial level of contamination was found on the surfaces of cytotoxic work room and oncology ward areas. The contamination ranges of the surfaces in cytotoxic work room and oncology ward areas were from 2.0 to $13.8{\mu}g/m^2$ and 5.39 to $11.53{\mu}g/m^2$ respectively. Consequently, regulation of the occupational exposure limit, procedure of special cleaning, and the use of personal protective equipment are recommended during the manipulation and administration of the drugs to avoid skin contamination from cytotoxic drugs like 5-FU.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
• /
• v.48 no.5
• /
• pp.525-529
• /
• 2016

Twenty-nine pepper products commercially available in the market were collected and investigate for contamination levels. Pepper products purchased from traditional markets had a degree of contamination of $10^6-10^7CFU/g$ aerobic bacteria, $10^4-10^5CFU/g$ Bacillus sp., and less than $10^2CFU/g$ yeast and molds. Organic pepper showed a degree of contamination of $10^4$ aerobic bacteria, $10^2-10^3$ Bacillus sp., and less than $10^1$ yeast and molds. Intense pulsed light (IPL) treatment of 10 min (1,000 V, 5 pps and 4 cm sample-to-lamp distance) showed a bacterial death rate of 1.45-1.55 log for whole peppers, and of 0.8-0.85 log for black and white pepper powder. The sterilization rate using IPL was higher than that using other non-thermal sterilization methods, such as ozone treatment or low-pressure discharge plasma sterilization, indicating that the IPL sterilization method may find potential application in the industry. However, further studies may need to be conducted to enhance the effect of sterilization.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
• /
• v.37 no.3
• /
• pp.178-184
• /
• 2005

Carry over contamination has been reduced in some systems by flushing the internal and external surfaces of the sample probe with copious amount of diluent. It between specimens should be kept as small as possible. A built-in, continuous-flow wash reservoir, which allows the simultaneous washing of the interior and exterior of the syringe needles, addresses this issue. In addition, residual contamination can further be prevented through the use of efficient needle rinsing procedures. In discrete systems with disposable reaction vessels and measuring cuvets, any carry over is entirely caused by the pipetting system. In analyzers with reuseable cuvets or flow cells, carry over may arise at every point through which high samples pass sequentially. Therefore, disposable sample probe tips can eliminate both the contamination of one sample by another inside the probe and the carry over of in specimen into the specimen in the cup. The results of the applicative carry over experiment studied on 21 items for total protein (TP), albumin (ALB), total bilirubin (TB), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), aspratate aminotranferase (AST), alanine aminotranferase (ALT), gamma glutamyl transferase (GGT), creatinine kinase (CK), lactic dehydrogenase (LD), creatnine (CRE), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), uric acid (UA), total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), glucose (GLU), amylase (AMY), calcium (CA), inorganic phosphorus (IP), sodium (Na), potassium (K), chloride (CL) tests in chematology were as follows. Evaluation of process performance less than 1% in all tests was very good, but a percentage of ALB, TP, TB, ALP, CRE, UA, TC, GLU, AMY, IP, K, Na, and CL was 0%, implying no carry over. Other tests were ALT(-0.08%), GGT(-0.09%), CK(0.08%), LD(0.06%), BUN(0.12%), TG (-0.06%), and CA(0.89%).

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
• /
• v.35 no.9
• /
• pp.1280-1285
• /
• 2006

The presoaking conditions of soybeans in various solution for decreasing microbial contamination and improving germination were investigated. Soybeans were treated with presoaking solutions (sterilized water, 0.1% grape fruit extract, 0.1% vitamin $B_1$ derivate solution AS5 and vitagen) at $25^{\circ}C,\;35^{\circ}C,\;45^{\circ}C\;and\;55^{\circ}C$ for $3\sim12$ hr and germinate at $25^{\circ}C$, 95%RH for 3 days. Total bacterial count and coliform count of soybeans were $6.0\times10^5CFU/g$ and $3.0\times10^5CFU/g$, respectively, and the most of presoaking treatments decreased the microbial contamination. The increase of presoaking time induces low germination ratio compared with unsoaked soybeans and the germination of soybeans was not detected at $55^{\circ}C$. The germination of soybeans was effected by presoaking solutions, temperature, and time. The optimal presoaking condition for decreasing microbial contamination and promoting initial germination was using grape fruit extract at $35^{\circ}C$ for 6 hr.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
• /
• v.19 no.6
• /
• pp.59-71
• /
• 2014

We investigated soil contamination depending on the land use by examining the contamination levels and distribution characteristics of 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the national soil. Total PAHs (the sum of 16 PAH concentrations) and carcinogenic PAHs (the sum of seven carcinogenic PAH concentrations) were $8.50{\sim}3,437.16{\mu}g/kg$ and $2.94{\sim}2,136.96{\mu}g/kg$, respectively. The concentration of benzo(a)pyrene, one of the contaminants regulated by the soil quality standard in the nation, was $ND{\sim}924.73{\mu}g/kg$. Its maximum value of $924.73{\mu}g/kg$ was detected in railroad (Region 3) and is approximately 13% of the standard value for Region 3 (i.e., 7 mg/kg). We also investigated the characteristics of contamination sources of PAHs in soil of the upland, forests, roads, and railroads, examining the fraction distribution of PAHs concentration by the number of benzene rings against the total PAHs concentration. The results demonstrate that the mean fraction of 4~6-ring PAHs against total PAHs concentration in soil was in the range of 51.8~80.7% with relative abundance of high-molecular PAHs, showing that the origin of contamination is under the category of combustion sources. When the molecular indices (Flu/(Flu/Pyr), Ant/(Ant+Phe), InP/(InP+BP), and BaA/(BaA+Chr)) were applied, they were also categorized as petroleum-based combustion sources. The individual PAH concentrations in soil by the land use were grouped into Regions 1, 2, and 3, which are statistically treated and are the parts of the national category system of soil quality standard. As a result, the concentration level of 16 PAHs was $0.02{\sim}2.63{\mu}g/kg$ in Region 1, $0.05{\sim}4.26{\mu}g/kg$ in Region 2, and $2.36{\sim}178.27{\mu}g/kg$ in Region 3. The concentration level of 6 carcinogenic PAHs was 14.2~320.4% against that of benzo(a)pyrene in Region 3 and sites of recycling waste sleepers. Considering that there were similarities among PAHs in terms of structures and toxicities, it would be recommended to review other types of carcinogenic PAHs together with benzo(a)pyrene when developing the soil quality standards in the nation.